Information AboutKen Wilber |
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Kenneth Earl Wilber Jr. (b. January 31 , 1949 , Oklahoma City , USA ), is an American Integral Thinker and author. Working outside the academic mainstream, he has drawn on a variety of disciplines including Psychology , Sociology , Philosophy , Mysticism , Postmodernism , Science and Systems Theory to formulate what he characterizes as an Integral Theory of Consciousness . He is a leading proponent of the Integral Thought movement, and founded the Integral Institute in 1998. http://www.integralinstitute.org/public/static/abthistory.aspx While Wilber has practiced , 2006 . Wilber does not self-identify as a Buddhist # ''Kosmic Consciousness'' (12 hour audio interview on ten CDs), 2003, ISBN 1-59179-124-3. BIOGRAPHY Ken Wilber was born on , which catalyzed his conversion to Buddhism . He left Duke, enrolled in the University Of Nebraska , and completed a bachelor's degree with a double major in chemistry and biology. In 1973, Wilber completed his first book, ''The Spectrum of Consciousness'', in which he sought to integrate knowledge from disparate fields. After rejections by more than twenty publishers it was finally accepted in 1977 by Quest Books , and he spent a year giving lectures and workshops before going back to writing. He also helped to launch the journal '' ReVision '' in 1978. In 1983, Wilber was married for a second time, this time to Terry (Treya) Killam who was shortly thereafter diagnosed with breast cancer. From the fall of 1984 until 1987, Wilber gave up most of his writing to focus on caring for her. Treya died in January, 1989, and their joint experience was recorded in the book ''Grace and Grit'' (1991). More recently, Wilber wrote '' Sex, Ecology, Spirituality '' (SES), (1995), the massive first volume of a proposed ''Kosmos Trilogy''. ''A Brief History of Everything'' (1996) was the non-footnoted, popularized summary of SES in the form of an imagined, extended interview. ''The Eye of Spirit'' (1997) was a compilation of articles he had written for the journal ''ReVision'' on the relationship between science and religion. Throughout 1997 he had kept journals of his personal experiences, which were published in 1999 as ''One Taste'', a Buddhist term for cosmic or Unitary Consciousness . Over the next two years his publisher, Shambhala Publications , took the unusual step of releasing eight re-edited volumes of his ''Collected Works''. In 1999, he finished '' Integral Psychology '' and wrote ''A Theory of Everything'' (2000). In ''A Theory of Everything'' Wilber attempts to bridge business, politics, science and spirituality and show how they integrate with theories of developmental psychology, such as Spiral Dynamics . His book, '' Boomeritis '' (2002), is a novel which attempts to expose the egotism of his generation. Since 1987, Wilber has lived in Denver, Colorado , where he is working on his Kosmos trilogy and overseeing the work of the Integral Institute . IDEAS Mysticism and the great chain of being One of Wilber's main interests is in mapping what he calls the neo-perennial philosophy, an integration of traditional mysticism (typified by Aldous Huxley 's Perennial Philosophy ) with an account of cosmic Evolution akin to that of the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo . He rejects the anti-evolutionary view of history as a regression from past ages or Yuga s that the perennial philosophy traditionally assumes. Instead, he embraces the traditionally Western notion of the Great Chain Of Being . As in the work of Jean Gebser , this great chain (or "nest") is ever-present while "relatively" unfolding throughout this material manifestation. As a Mahayana Buddhist, he believes that reality is ultimately a Nondual union of Emptiness and Form , with form being innately subject to development over time. Wilber's writings are ultimately attempts to describe how form undergoes change, and how sentient beings in the world of form participate in this change until they finally realize their true identity as emptiness. Wilber is at his most effective when arguing for the value of mystical realization and in opposition to philosophical materialism, as in the following passage: Wilber's holism A key idea in Wilber's philosophical approach is the '', your Skeletal System , etc.), you are also a part of your Society , and of your Nation-state . A letter is a self-existing entity and simultaneously an integral part of a word. Everything from Quarks to Matter to Energy to Idea s can be looked at in this way — everything in creation except perhaps creation itself is a holon. In his book '' Sex, Ecology, Spirituality : The Spirit of Evolution'', Wilber outlines approximately twenty tenets that characterize all holons.Wilber, Ken; ''Sex, Ecology, Spirituality'', 1995, p. 35-78 These tenets form the basis of Wilber's model of manifest reality. Beyond this, Wilber's view is that the totality of manifest reality itself is just a wave on the ocean of the unmanifest, of Emptiness itself, which is not a holon. AQAL: All Quadrants All Levels See Also: AQAL AQAL (pronounced ''aqual'' or ''ah-qwul'') represents the core of Wilber's recent work. AQAL stands for "all quadrants all levels", but equally connotes 'all lines', 'all states' and 'all types'. These are the five irreducible categories of Wilber's model of manifest existence. In order for an account of the Kosmos to be complete, Wilber believes that it must include each of these five categories. For Wilber, only such an account can be accurately called "integral." In the essay, "Excerpt C: The Ways We Are in This Together", Wilber describes AQAL as "one suggested architecture of the Kosmos".1 All of Wilber's AQAL categories — Quadrants , Lines , Levels , States , and Types —relate to relative truth in the Two Truths Doctrine of Buddhism , to which he subscribes. According to Wilber, none of them are true in an absolute sense: only formless awareness, "the simple feeling of being," exists absolutely. The pre/trans fallacy See Also: Pre/trans fallacy Wilber purports that many claims about non-rational states make a mistake he calls the Pre/trans Fallacy . According to Wilber, the non-rational stages of consciousness (what Wilber calls "pre-rational" and "trans-rational" stages) can be easily confused with one another. One can reduce supposed "trans-rational" spiritual realization to pre-rational regression, or one can elevate pre-rational states to the trans-rational domain. For example, Wilber claims that Freud and Jung commit this fallacy. Freud considered mystical realizations to be regressions to infantile oceanic states. Wilber alleges that Freud thus commits a fallacy of reduction. Wilber thinks that Jung commits the converse form of the same mistake by considering pre-rational myths to reflect divine realizations. Likewise, pre-rational states such as tribal thinking, Groupthink , and the occultism of the Nazis or Charles Manson may be misidentified as post-rational states. Interestingly, Wilber characterizes himself as having fallen victim to the pre/trans fallacy in his early work. Wilber on science Wilber describes the current state of the "hard" sciences as limited to "narrow science", which only allows evidence from the lowest realm of consciousness, the Sensorimotor (the five senses and their extensions). What he calls "broad science" would include evidence from Logic , Mathematics , and from the Symbol ic, Hermeneutical , and other realms of Consciousness . Ultimately and ideally, broad science would include the testimony of Meditators and Spiritual Practitioners . Wilber's own conception of science includes both narrow science and broad science, e.g, using Electroencephalogram machines and other technologies to test the experiences of meditators and other spiritual practitioners, creating what Wilber calls "integral science". According to Wilber's theory, narrow science trumps narrow religion, but broad science trumps narrow science. That is, the natural sciences provide a more inclusive, accurate account of Reality than any of the particular Exoteric religious traditions. But an integral approach that evaluates both religious claims and scientific claims based on intersubjectivity is preferable to narrow science. Current work In 2005, at the launch of the Integral Spiritual Center , a branch of the Integral Institute , Wilber presented a 118-page rough draft summary of his two forthcoming books.2 (1.3 MB PDF file) The essay is entitled "What is Integral Spirituality?", and contains several new ideas, including Integral post-metaphysics and the Wilber-Combs lattice. "Integral post-metaphysics" is the term Wilber has recently given to his attempts to reconstruct the world's Spiritual - Religious traditions in a way that accounts for the Modern and Post-modern criticisms of those traditions. The Wilber-Combs Lattice is a conceptual model of Consciousness developed by Wilber and Allan Combs . It is a grid with sequential States of consciousness on the x axis (from left to right) and with developmental structures, or Levels , of consciousness on the y axis (from bottom to top). This lattice illustrates how each structure of consciousness interprets experiences of different states of consciousness, including mystical states, in different ways. Wilber has high praise for Zen teacher Genpo Roshi 's Big Mind technique. Influences on Wilber Wilber's conception of the perennial philosophy has been primarily influenced by Madhyamika Buddhism , particularly as articulated in the philosophy of Nagarjuna .3 Wilber has been a dedicated practitioner of Buddhist meditation since his college years, and has studied under some widely recognized meditators, such as Dainin Katagiri , Maezumi Roshi , Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche , Kalu Rinpoche , Penor Rinpoche and Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche . The nondual mysticism of Advaita Vedanta , Tibetan Buddhism , Zen Buddhism , Plotinus , Ramana Maharshi , and Andrew Cohen , as well as the teaching and works of Adi Da , which Wilber has on several occasions singled out for the highest praise (while expressing reservations about Adi Da as a teacher) 4, are also strong influences. These influences have led Wilber to assert that those desiring enlightenment should seek out "the outlaws, the living terrors, the Rude Boys and Nasty Girls of God realization" and that "Every deeply enlightened teacher I have known has been a Rude Boy or Nasty Girl". 5 Wilber's conception of Evolution or psychological development draws on Aurobindo , Adi Da , Andrew Cohen , Jean Gebser , the Great Chain Of Being , German Idealism , Erich Jantsch , Jean Piaget , Abraham Maslow , Erik Erikson , Lawrence Kohlberg , Howard Gardner , Clare W. Graves , Robert Kegan and Spiral Dynamics . RECEPTION Wilber has a growing influence among business and organizational theorists, political analysts, community change agents, and especially among religious thinkers seeking to reframe conventional Theology . He is currently associated with a number of spiritual teachers, such as Andrew Cohen , Lama Surya Das , Father Thomas Keating , Brother David Steindl-Rast , and religious scholar Ronald H. Miller , who have, to a greater or lesser degree, expressed assent to his theoretical approach. However, Wilber's work has been largely ignored by academia. He has published just two articles in one peer-reviewed academic journal (the Journal Of Consciousness Studies ), and he is rarely mentioned in other peer-reviewed academic journals. Full article search via Highwire press of 1000+ academic journals and PubMed since 1970 resulting in less than 25 mentions in peer-reviewed journals as of Jan. 2007 Criticism of Wilber's work Technical criticism One technical criticism of Wilber is contained in Falk's "Norman Einstein" 6 critique, in which Falk charges that Wilber misrepresents certain high-school level ideas, particularly concerning evolutionary theory and Pythagorean geometry. The that evolves; Emptiness remains unchanged. Trans-conceptually, one can embrace one's own transrational (and hence ultimately Ineffable ) experience-awareness, and this is what constitutes true nondual enlightenment.Arvan Harvat, "The Atman Fiasco" Others, including is Samsara fully realized; Samsara is Nirvana rightly understood." Wilber's response to criticisms like this is typified in this quotation from the extended audio interview ''Speaking of Everything'': "...when I lay out the stages of development, I am giving what I explicitly called in '' SES '' a ‘rational reconstruction of the trans-rational’. 7 Thus, differentiated non-dual doctrines and truly unitary monist doctrines are describing (or coming from) different levels of consciousness, the former from a Causal perspective that differentiates between Emptiness and Form (and hence must see form as emanationary), and the latter from a nondual perspective that equates emptiness and form (and hence renders emanation a redundant concept). Criticism of Wilber's interpretations | ||||||||||||||||||
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